CNN, "Firestone tires recall linked to recent deaths; Firestone announces renewed recall after recent deaths and injuries in rollovers involving SUVs"

         Firestone announced a renewed recall effort Friday for its radial tires, mainly spares, still remaining on the Ford Explorer and similar SUVs from the 1990s.  More...

         The action followed talks with the federal highway safety agency after a complaint about recent deaths and injuries in rollovers involving SUVs, often bought used, that had older Firestone spare tires.

         Firestone said it will send letters to owners of Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers or Mazda Navajos made prior to the 2000 model year. Mazda, like Mercury, is part of the Ford Motor Co  

         Six years ago, Firestone recalled an estimated 6.5 million of its Radial ATX and Wilderness AT tires after numerous rollover deaths.

          Firestone says 6.3 million tires were replaced, making it the most successful recall ever. But independent safety consultant Sean Kane said as many as 200,000 were missed for a number of reasons. For example, Kane said, substitute tires were often scarce or owners simply didn't think about turning in the spares.

         In a random test, [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] recently checked a number of older Ford SUVs in the Washington, D.C., area and found up to 10 percent still carrying the older Firestones as spares, even though they should have been replaced long ago.